Today in Los Angeles at a press conference streamed live to the world via Facebook GLORY announced that they would be creating a Women's Super Bantamweight division, the weight at which Tiffany Van Soest fights. It makes sense considering the signing of Van Soest. They've announced a Super Bantamweight Grand Prix, which Van Soest vs. Hasshass is the first quarterfinal bout in said tournament. The second fight will be at GLORY 31 Amsterdam as Isis Verbeek takes on Iman Barlow.

The addition of Barlow is perhaps the other biggest bit of news as she can easily be considered one of the best female fighters in the world. In fact, Steven Wright ranked her as the #2 pound-for-pound woman in the world right now. GLORY has built a ten-woman division, with future match-ups being Zoila Frausto vs. Daniela Graf and Amel Dehby vs. Ji Waen-Lee, while Ferial Ameeroedien vs. Irina Mazepa will serve as the reserve fight.

There are some solid names in there for the division and hopefully this takes off in a big way. You can watch the full announcement below.

We're thrilled to announce a new division with a Grand Prix tournament, tune in LIVE!

I've been looking forward to this card all weekend. First of all Denise Kielholtz Vs Tiffany Van Soest is going to be an amazing clash of styles, I can't wait to see how Van Soest deals with Kielholtz combos or how Denise deals with Tiffany's power. Also.. Andy Souwer not much more I need to say about him, I'm just hoping he gets through this one without any injuries since his S-Cup fight is next weekend.

70 KG Enfusion World Title - Andy Souwer (The Netherlands) Vs Ardalan Sheikholeslami (Iran) - Andy Souwer Wins by KO Rd 4 (Ardalan dropped his hands and laughed and paid dearly from a series of right hands)

If you were to observe Lion Fight Promotions from the outside, it would look like a healthy promotion that’s on the up-and-up. Lion Fight airs on AXS TV, has aired some tremendous fights over that span of time including some of the biggest names in American muay thai as well as big, international names. Over the last few months they’ve picked up even more steam when UFC and comedy personality Joe Rogan started to get excited about Lion Fight and talking about it on the Joe Rogan Experience.

Suddenly Lion Fight went from this thing that hardcore fight fans maybe kinda sorta knew about to the mecca of “high level striking” in the United States. That’s the kind of pull and influence someone like Rogan has. While I can’t fault him for his own tastes and opinions, nor the pull that he has with a good portion of social media fight fans, the hyperbole has been palpable since then, leaving Lion Fight in the position of untouchable darling of the fight scene.

Cracks started to form on the veneer of Lion Fight in January, though, when word broke that the United States Muay Thai Association, the organization that had provided oversight for a total of three Lion Fight events, declared itself “done” with Lion Fight. The claim? Lack of payment as well as cooperation from the promotion. Lion Fight was quick to declare that the switch to IKF for Lion Fight 27 was decided in advance, but the story sort of tapered off into the ether as stories like this tend to do for promotions that aren’t huge and in the national spotlight.

Word was after the event that there were some outstanding payment issues that were bound to surface, only it took nearly two months for anything to bubble up and pour into the public eye. In a now-redacted tweet and corresponding Instagram post from newly-crowned champion Tiffany Van Soest, she claimed to still be owed money for her Lion Fight 27 performance, which the company hadn’t made good on. So she was auctioning off her Lion Fight championship for $500 to pay some bills -- or so was the implication -- and people seemed shocked. The USMTA/IKF bait-and-switch was quick and happened without much visibility, but non-payment for one of their world champions? That was something that would catch some eyes. And it did.

Along with the recent, quiet departure of longtime posterboy for the promotion in Kevin Ross, things might seem a bit off within the realm of Lion Fight. Joe Schilling has gone on record publicly talking down the home of some of his most notable fights before he signed with GLORY and Bellator, going as far as to dub the promotion “Lion Fart” and within some of the more hardcore muay thai circles there are a lot of “I told you so’s” floating around. Needless to say, while the promotion might be picking up steam and exposure, with that exposure has come an increased focus on every aspect of the promotion. There has been talk of a “uniform deal” that sounds a lot like UFC and Reebok’s much-maligned deal, but there have only been whispers of complaints thus far.

Van Soest’s decision to come forward and call out the promotion was a power play, if anything. A fan-backed GoFundMe was launched almost immediately and far surpassed the goal of $500, with many within the community quick to rally behind her to help cover any costs she needed help with an wanted her to keep the belt. Van Soest is a popular fighter who by all reports seems to be done with Lion Fight and should be heading off to greener pastures in the near future, so there shouldn’t be any doubts as to if she’ll be fighting again any time soon thanks to how marketable she is. If she needed to borrow some money she clearly could have, although that isn’t the point. The point here is that the only way that she saw that money was by going public and taking scrapes at Lion Fight’s public perception, which at this point is one of their most treasured assets.

It worked.

This afternoon they were quick to offer up an official statement claiming that there was an issue when the check was deposited, but that they have wired her the money this afternoon to clear up any sort of outstanding payment. But, the issue here feels more complicated than that. Lion Fight owed Van Soest money and the only way for Van Soest and her team to see that money was to make a statement on social media. The IKF, who sanctioned the event after USMTA dropped off, even has rules in place that are meant to avoid situations like this:

Promoter is required to pay to the IKF Representative or Associate directly after the event weigh-ins and before the Official event Rules meeting in CASH or CERTIFIED Checks ALL PRO Fighter Purses made out to each PRO Fighter.

The Official IKF Event representative shall hold all fight purses and distribute them to all pro fighters AFTER the event.

Lion Fight is, for many young fighters and fans, something to aspire to, the place where muay thai fighters in the United States can strive to fight and earn their fame in. Legends and heroes like Kevin Ross, Tiffany Van Soest, Joe Schilling, John Wayne Parr, Cris Cyborg Santos, Malaipet, Cosmo Alexandre, Artem Levin, Simon Marcus and many more have fought within Lion Fight’s ring and while there have been more options for those inclined towards kickboxing, the same can’t be said for muay thai. Lion Fight is pretty much the only game in town on a quasi-national level when it comes to clinching, elbows and knees, utilizing the full thai rules and this is a major blow to that perception that they are the best stand up striking organization in America.

For now they still are, the only problem is that not all fighters have the same sort of voice or platforms available to them like Van Soest does. For the good of the sport here's to hoping that stuff like this doesn't pop up again any time soon, or if it does that it's taken care of behind closed doors, not in the public view.

Last night at Foxwoords Resort and Casino in Connecticut Lion Fight made their East Coast debut with Lion Fight 15. It was an exciting night of action that saw Lion Fight standouts Kevin Ross and Tiffany Van Soest back in the winners column. The main event saw Muay Thai sensation Cosmo Alexandre score a unanimous decision victory over Mark Holst.

Lion Fight 16 goes down live tonight at 9pm Eastern time on AXS TV, hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada at UFC's International Fight Week fan expo. That's a pretty big deal, let me tell you. So join us here at LiverKick for live results and discussion of tonight's big Lion Fight 16 event on this Fourth of July. Celebrate America's birthday with the science of eight limbs. Make sure to follow both Dave (@liverkickdotcom) and Jay (@JayJauncey) for live talk and updates on Lion Fight 16.

Enfusion Live have quietly been promoting their brand of kickboxing over the past few years introducing some great new talents into the world and putting on solid, entertaining shows. On November 23rd in the Netherlands they are set to promote what might be their biggest show ever, featuring big names and big fights. The biggest fight to look out for is Denise Kielholtz defending her Enfusion -57kg World Title against American Tiffany Van Soest.

The biggest Muay Thai Promotion in North America has finally brought its great product, Lion Fights, to the East Coast. The event brought some of the biggest established names in North American Muay Thai into the ring as well as some solid up-and-comers and talented amateurs. In a region of the country that has seen some recent criticisms of its Muay Thai and MMA scene’s refs, judges and sanctioning bodies, Lion Fight rose above, and but for a slip-up by the announcer, had solid reffing, judging, and even the ringside doctors did a great job in monitoring the cuts during the show.

In the Main Event, the much touted Cosmo Alexandre faced off with the Canadian Mark Holst. Alexandre, the Brazilian ex-patriot, looked physically stronger, moved better, and for the full five rounds looked like a Lumpini champion sparring with a talented but not at his level professional. Cosmo controlled the pace and action, absorbed what he allowed and then landed hard overhand rights, at will. Holst was game, and kept attacking, but he saw early that his power had no effect, while Alexandre’s shots knocked him off his spot and bent him like a palm tree in the wind. All three judges had it for Alexandre: 50-45, 49-45, and 49-47.

The Co-Main Event was really the fight of the night. Like a gourmet meal, it wasn’t the biggest serving, but you got was absolutely awesome. The action started before the bell finished tolling, Mauceri came straight out of his corner like cannonfire, as is his usual style. The veteran, Kevin Ross, had obviously watched tape and game-planned for this. Ross used Mauceri’s straight forward approach to lure him into traps, letting Mauceri run into his elbows, use his movement, his ring-savvy and crafty combos effectively. In the first few minutes Mauceri’s head crashed into Kevin’s right elbow, resulting in a deep, deep gash on his forehead, above the left eye. The blood began to flow immediately and the referee stopped the fight to let the ringside physicians take a look. One came and looked deeply into the cut, he then called over the other physician who looked again, they conferred, and as if in response to the crowd calling for it to continue, decided to give him a chance to finish the round and let his corner work on it. Knowing the immediacy of the situation, Mauceri turned the aggression on, landing punch and kick combos, and pushing Ross to the ropes. But the always cagey Ross used great lateral movement to circumvent Mauceri’s attacks and set up flashy elbow attacks and punch combinations. After the Black and Blue team had a minute to work on Mauceri’s cut, he came out hard and fast in round 2, catching Ross with a great sweep that scored well. But Ross laughed it off confidently and went to work over the rest of the second and beginning of the third round, carving the always advancing Mauceri’s head up with his elbows, causing the doctors to stop the fight and leaving a scar like the Mark of Zorro, in 25 stitches on Mauceri’s head as a souvenir. Wow!

In other notable action, Tiffany van Soest stepped into Payne’s pocket, in close enough range for van Soest to land effectively, but too close for Payne’s much longer arms and legs to have any power. The pressure, movement and power of van Soest were too much for the game and fighting back Payne, but in the end, the Unanimous Decision went to Tiffany: 50-45, 50-46, and 49-46. Mohammed Lemjerdine took on Jason Andrada for the second time. Again, the longer more technical and traditional Lemjerdine controlled the action, scoring two flash knockdowns in the first, that I thought didn’t need to be counted in either instance, but the referee did, thus giving Mohammed a big advantage on the cards. Andrada responded very well, and made it a great and entertaining fight, but couldn’t find that knockout button he used to take the victory last time. The Unanimous Decision went to Lemjerdine: 48-47, 48-45, and 48-46. As a last minute replacement, Pedro Gonzalez stepped in and took on Nick Chasteen. Gonzalez was consistent in his attack, driving Chasteen to the ropes, clinching and mushing, and then dropping elbows and knees when he had position. It was very effective for him, as he scored a standing 8 and a cut over Chasteen’s left eye in the first and then sealing the deal with another series of elbows that cut Chasteen badly enough for the doctors to signal an end to the fight. In both fighters’ pro debut, Tim Amorim showed what traditional Muay Thai strategy and technique can do against a more kickboxing, TKD style as he chopped down Tom Evans front leg, and evaded the spinning back kicks and fists to land hard punches and elbows, causing Evan’s cornermen to stop the fight between the 2nd and 3rd rounds, giving Amorim a TKO victory in his young record.

GLORY 30 Los Angeles goes down tonight, with the SuperFight Series beginning at 10pm eastern live on UFC Fight Pass. The main card is slated to begin around 12:30am eastern time live on ESPN3. For those that can't make it, GLORY 30 will be re-airing on ESPN2 on Sunday night at 9pm eastern time.

The main card sees a GLORY Middleweight Championship bout between challenger Dustin Jacoby and champion Simon Marcus, hoping to make his first successful defense after the controversial win over former champion Artem Levin. The co-main event sees Marat Grigorian take on Djime Coulibaly in a lightweight showdown and the rest of the main card is a welterweight tournament.

The SuperFight Series is worth the price of admission alone with the main event being Joe Schilling vs. Jason Wilnis in a rematch, as well as the debut of Tiffany van Soest against Esma Hasshass in the first round of GLORY's Super Bantamweight Grand Prix. Also featured is a big heavyweight showdown between Brian Douwes and Guto Inocente.

GLORY 30 Los Angeles

Middleweight Title Headline Bout: Simon Marcus (c) def. Dustin Jacoby by Unanimous Dec (Jacoby put up a good fight, and had some great moments but he got an 8 count in the first round (overhand right) and the 5th (right kick body kick). He was too busy trying to land 1 KO punch.

Lightweight Co-Headline Bout: Marat Grigorian def. Djimé by KO Rd 1 (perfectly timed right high kick just as Djime moved his face into it)

Welterweight Tournament Final Bout: Richard Abraham def. Francois Ambang by Split Dec (Great back and forth fight, it could have gone either way, I thought Ambang did more damage but Abraham was busier)